Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Pud topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve PUD rezoning with conditions for large industrial/distribution project; buffer, railroad crossing and emergency-access limits set
Summary
The board approved RZ22, a Planned Unit Development rezoning for a large industrial and distribution project with multiple land uses; the approval included conditions limiting access to State Road 720 to emergency use unless a railroad crossing is not permitted, and left certain buffer widths to staff determination at development stage.
Hendry County commissioners on March 11 approved RZ22, a rezoning application to establish a Planned Unit Development allowing extensive industrial, warehousing, data center, commercial and hotel uses across multiple sections of a large property.
Ryan Alexander, Director of Planning and Community Development, described the project as including "23,000,000 square feet of industrial distribution, a million square feet of industrial park, a million square feet of industrial warehousing, 250,000 square feet of light industrial, 250,000 square feet of industrial data center, 13,500 square feet of commercial, truck stop, or industrial, and 100 hotel rooms distributed over 6 areas of the property." He said staff worked with the applicant to ensure neighboring Sky Valley Subdivision would be buffered with restricted zones and setbacks.
Tommy Berry of Johnson Pro, representing the applicant, asked for flexibility on secondary access tied to a railroad crossing: because a portion of the site sits within a curve of the railroad and "there could be some trouble getting a crossing of the railroad there," Berry said the developer wanted a contingency to use State Road 724 or 720 if crossing the railroad proved infeasible.
Commissioner Raymond Iglesias moved, and Commissioner Mitchell Wills seconded, a motion that included language limiting access to State Road 720 to emergency access only "unless the developer cannot obtain a permit to cross [the railroad], at which time section 6 ... shall be the only section allowed access to 720." The board also accepted staff-recommended language that buffers "South of 9 Mile Canal" and "adjacent to 9 Mile Canal" be "determined at time of development" according to the Land Development Code and applicable criteria (cited in the record as "01/1958").
The motion passed on individual roll-call votes. Commissioners emphasized that staff determinations of buffer types would follow the county code and that the rezoning does not itself authorize construction — subsequent development orders and construction-plan reviews remain required.
